Breaking tradition, law firm tries to soften layoff announcement with earnings projection

In an internal memo last week, Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw announced 50 layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, and projected the firm’s profits to fall by five to seven percent in 2009. “The projection was not extraordinary because of the rate of decline but rather that Seyfarth, one of the largest firms in Chicago, found it necessary to set expectations about its financial health,” the Chicago Tribune reported. “Lawyers rarely talk publicly about in-house financial mat…